TEACHER ACTIVISM IN RESPONSE TO NORTH CAROLINA'S 2013 EXCELLENT PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACT

In 2013, North Carolina’s political power balances shifted with the election of a Republican governor, Pat McCrory, and a Republican super-majority in the General Assembly. This shift in political power allowed for more conservative legislation to be introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly. Some of the newly proposed legislation, especially bills concerning public education in North Carolina, have been drafted from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bills (Hauser, 2010). North Carolina public school teachers and other stakeholders have opposed these legislative decisions with protests and other actions directed at the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA). Teacher’s reactions to the 2013 Excellent Public Schools Act is drawing national attention to North Carolina’s educational policies. Teachers have rallied, walked out of their classrooms and met with legislators to voice their opinions and express concerns with the legislation. This qualitative research investigates the reasons teachers decided to protest the 2013 NCGA legislation while using Elazar’s political culture as a guiding framework for exploring teachers' interpretations of North Carolina's laws. The data reveal that some teachers are angry and desire to leave the profession. Some teachers noted that professional double standards and lack of salary increases have made them question their commitment to teaching, but cannot leave because the children deserve to have a devoted teacher in the classroom each day. Additionally, when teachers step out of the expected apolitical role in a traditionalistic political culture, challenges arise and some can be extremely risky.Doctor of Educatio